Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL5562), how, assuming that signalling is designed appropriately for the relevant speed, operating at a speed of 320km/h rather than 360km/h would reduce capacity on the high speed line.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 23 March 2017.The correct answer should have been:

Reducing the maximum speed of trains from 360km/h to 320km/h would result in trains taking longer to complete their overall journey. This means that, unless we buy more train sets, we will not able to run as many train services on HS2 and therefore capacity will be reduced. In my previous answer [HL5562], reduced capacity was also in the context of running tilting trains at 300km/h on the HS2 network. Mixing tilting trains running at 300km/h on HS2 with non-tilting trains running at 360km/h would also reduce capacity because it would reduce the number of train paths available per hour. Furthermore, the response to our market sounding of rolling stock manufacturers has indicated that titling tilting trains offer reduced seating capacity per train set compared with non-tilt.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Reducing the maximum speed of trains from 360km/h to 320km/h would result in trains taking longer to complete their overall journey. This means that, unless we buy more train sets, we will not able to run as many train services on HS2 and therefore capacity will be reduced. In my previous answer [HL5562], reduced capacity was also in the context of running tilting trains at 300km/h on the HS2 network. Mixing tilting trains running at 300km/h on HS2 with non-tilting trains running at 360km/h would also reduce capacity because it would reduce the number of train paths available per hour. Furthermore, the response to our market sounding of rolling stock manufacturers has indicated that titling tilting trains offer reduced seating capacity per train set compared with non-tilt.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Veterans

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the initiative by Cheltenham Borough Council to build homes for veterans; and whether they will encourage other local authorities to take similar action to house those who have left the armed forces.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government commends Cheltenham Borough Council for the steps they have taken which are in line with the Armed Forces Covenant and measures which we have put in place to ensure that serving members of the Armed Forces and veterans are given appropriate priority for social housing.In 2012 we introduced regulations to ensure that seriously injured and disabled Service personnel and former members of the Armed Forces with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing.At the same time, we introduced regulations to ensure that serving personnel, and veterans who are within 5 years of having been discharged, do not lose their qualification rights for social housing because of the necessity to move from base to base.Our 2012 statutory social housing allocations guidance goes further and also strongly encourages councils to take into account the needs of all serving or former Service personnel when framing their housing allocation schemes. It gives examples of how councils can do this, including setting aside a proportion of properties for former members of the Armed Forces under a local lettings policy, which is what Cheltenham Borough Council have done.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

RT

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the spread of misinformation, or (2) interference in the internal affairs of foreign states, through the activities of Russia Today.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Russian government has a poor record of respecting freedom of expression and enjoys a near monopoly over Russian language media across the post-Soviet region. This provides an avenue for the spreading of disinformation and propaganda.Where media plurality exists such as that enjoyed by broadcasters in the UK, the impact is low. Russia Today, for example, has a limited audience share in the UK and we have judged that there is little to no impact measurable from its activity in the West.

Department for International Development

St Helena: Airports

lord stevens of ludgate: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 30 January (HL4701), and in the light of the positive results of the recent air access tests at St Helena Airport, whether wind shear was the primary factor in the decision made to reduce regular air services to and from that airport.

lord bates: Wind shear identified at St Helena Airport in April 2016 meant that the commencement of regular scheduled air services was postponed while the operating conditions were investigated and means identified to mitigate their impact. A tender for a weekly air service into St Helena was launched in December 2016 and received a substantial response. Contract award is scheduled for early summer 2017.

Developing Countries: Cancer

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding they provide, and to which countries, for the detection and treatment of breast and gynaecological cancer.

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they give to HPV vaccination in developing country programmes.

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider developing a campaign to vaccinate all girls in developing countries against HPV.

lord bates: The UK’s assessment is that the most effective approach to vaccinate all girls in developing countries against HPV is through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi will vaccinate 40 million girls against HPV and prevent 900,000 deaths by 2020. The UK is the largest contributor to Gavi, and UK funds will vaccinate over 10 million girls against HPV by 2020, preventing over 200,000 future deaths from cervical cancer.DFID supports low income countries to strengthen their health services, so that they can effectively address the existing disease burden and be responsive to the future and changing health needs.

Department for Education

Care Leavers

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many young people have left local authority care in each of the last 10 years; and whether they intend to recommend that local authorities treat them as a priority category for social housing.

lord nash: The number of young people who left local authority care in each of the last 10 years, is provided in the table attached. In 2012, the Department for Communities and Local Government issued statutory guidance for local authorities on social housing allocations. The guidance makes clear that those leaving care should be treated as a priority group for social housing. In addition, care leavers aged 18-21 are an identified priority need group in homelessness legislation. In 2014, we introduced the ‘Staying Put’ duty, which requires local authorities to support young people in foster care to remain with their former foster carer(s) until age 21. We have also made a commitment to introduce ‘Staying Close’, which will provide many of the benefits associated with Staying Put for young people leaving residential care.



Children_who_ceased_to_be_looked_after
(Excel SpreadSheet, 586.2 KB)

Pupil Premium

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pupils qualified for pupil premium in the academic years 2015–16 and 2016–17.

lord nash: The number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in state-funded primary and secondary, maintained special schools, special academies, pupil referral units, alternative provision academies and alternative provision is: Deprivation Pupil PremiumService Child Pupil PremiumPost-LACPupil Premium Plus for Looked After ChildrenTotal2015 to 20161,920,35768,89630,77455,3802,075,4062016 to 201711,913,32673,41536,85455,38022,078,974 Notes: 1 - Provisional figures for 2016 to 2017 which will be finalised by end March 2017 covering new data for Looked After Children and for new and growing schools.2 - Provisional LAC figures are pulled forward from 2015 to 2016.3 - Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils. Figures are rounded to 0 decimal places and so do not sum to the Total.This information is published on the department’s website.

Swimming: Rural Areas

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure the teaching of water survival techniques to children in rural or remote areas where there is no provision of swimming pools or access to other safe places to swim.

lord nash: We want all children to leave primary school able to swim. Swimming is not only an excellent form of physical activity but also a life-saving skill. This is why swimming and water safety is compulsory in the national curriculum for PE at key stages 1 and 2. While many schools enjoy excellent links to local facilities we do know that some schools, especially in rural areas, struggle to access local pools. To help look into this and other issues that hinder the teaching of high quality swimming lessons, the Government has established a working group to advise on how to ensure no child leaves primary school unable to swim. The group is supported by the Amateur Swimming Association and includes sector experts, and will be presenting their recommendations to Ministers shortly. Further details will be announced in due course.

Schools: Finance

lord ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the warning from the Local Government Association that reductions in the central government-provided education services grant may result in some local authorities potentially being unable to meet legal obligations to schools, such as checking staff for criminal records and ensuring that buildings are free of asbestos, what recourse is available to affected pupils, parents, school staff and other local residents if those legal obligations are not met.

lord nash: As announced at the Spending Review, we will be removing the Education Services Grant general funding rate from 2017-18. We recognise that local authorities will need support with this change, which is why we have introduced a new transitional grant worth £125m in 2017-18. We have also amended regulations to allow local authorities to use other sources of funding to pay for education services for maintained schools once the ESG is removed from September 2017. Local authorities are allowed to retain some of their maintained schools’ Dedicated Schools Grant so that they can continue to deliver the statutory duties they carry out on behalf of maintained schools previously funded through the Education Services Grant general funding rate.If local authorities cannot agree with their maintained schools on the level of funding to retain, local authorities have recourse to the Secretary of State.Funding delivered through the ESG retained duties rate, which funds duties that local authorities hold in respect of all schools, is not being removed. In 2017-18, this funding has been moved into the Dedicated Schools Grant and paid to local authorities on a per-pupil basis. From 2018-19, this funding will be allocated to local authorities through the central school services block.

Ministry of Justice

Crown Courts: Legal Representation

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have not yet published the report on issues faced by the courts and practitioners as a result of the number of cases in which defendants are unrepresented in the Crown Courts; and when they intend to do so.

baroness buscombe: This research was designed and delivered as an internal report to give the Government a better understanding of the practical issues associated with unrepresented defendants. We have no plans to publish the report.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Government Art Collection

lord freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Government Art Collection is planning to open a gallery in central London; if so, what is the projected annual cost, and when it will open; and whether they held discussions on locating the gallery outside London prior to making that decision.

lord ashton of hyde: The Government plans to make an announcement on this matter in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

National Parks

lord judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations they have had with Natural England about ensuring the protection of the national parks from major development; and what was the outcome of those consultations.

lord gardiner of kimble: National park authorities and Natural England have clear roles with respect to the planning system. National park authorities are required to consult Natural England on development plans and must take into account any advice Natural England provides on them. Natural England is a statutory consultee on development requiring an environmental impact assessment and nationally significant infrastructure projects, and provides advice to national park authorities, local planning authorities and the Secretary of State where it considers there will be significant adverse impacts on national park purposes. In addition, Natural England has a duty to provide advice where any local authority consults it about proposals for the development of land in a national park. Natural England’s advice is provided in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, which affords national parks the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty. Where a local planning authority is minded to grant planning permission contrary to Natural England’s advice, Natural England may request the Secretary of State to call in the application for its determination. Natural England liaises regularly with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Communities and Local Government on planning and development issues relating to national parks.

Home Office

Firearms: Licensing

the earl of shrewsbury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the itemised costs to (1) the Home Office, and (2) the police, of the grant and renewal of authorities under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 for each of the last three years.

baroness williams of trafford: The Department published the estimated average annual costs associated with issuing licences for museums, Home Office approved shooting clubs, and Section 5 licences in the impact assessment that accompanied the recent consultation on firearms. Average annual costs to the Home Office were estimated to be £596,000. Average annual costs to the police in England and Wales were estimated to be £69,000. Average annual costs to the police in Scotland were estimated to be £5,000. The impact assessment is available on www.gov.uk website and has been attached to this answer.



Impact Assessment
(PDF Document, 476.82 KB)

Asylum: LGBT People

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they did not disclose to Parliament the number of LGBT asylum seekers held in detention over the last eighteen months, despite several oral and written questions, but did disclose the figures through an FOI request by Attitude magazine.

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Campsfield House, Colnbrook, Harmondsworth and Tinsley House detention centres were unable to give full figures to Attitude magazine of the number of LGBT asylum seekers being held in detention and what action has been taken to rectify this.

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers who have been recorded as LGBT have been held in detention over the last 12 months and what was the length of detention in each case.

baroness williams of trafford: On 27 February 2017, the Home Office responded to an FOI request asking for information relating to detainees who identify as LGBT in the immigration detention estate. The FOI asked for information relating to detainees who identify as LGBT in the immigration detention estate. This question concerns asylum seekers in detention who have been recorded as being based LGBT. The FOI response, provided below, set out the number of individuals in detention who have disclosed their sexual orientation as LGBT as a snapshot (on 18 November 2016) and as a total number for the period from 1 January to 18 November 2016, see table below. Service providers are required to provide opportunities for detainees who wish to do so, to safely disclose their sexual orientation and to ensure that those individuals can easily access support and assistance. The data you have requested in relation to LGBT asylum seekers held in detention over the last 12 months and the length of detention in each case is not readily available. It is not incumbent upon a detained individual to declare their sexuality. The required information would only be recorded in the case notes sections within the Home Office database or held solely on the paper files. The time required to examine individual cases and extrapolate the required data, would exceed the £800 cost limit. FOI response to Attitude magazine Number of people currently detained who identify as LGBT (as of 18th November 2016)Number of people currently detained who identify as LGBT from January 1st 2016 – November 2016Brook HouseLess than 515CampsfieldInformation not heldInformation not heldColnbrook5Information not heldDungavel0Less than 5Harmondsworth10Information not heldLarne House00Morton HallLess than 5Less than 5The VerneLess than 543Tinsley HouseLess than 5Information not heldPennine House00 Where the number of people identified is low, a parameter is added to ensure individuals are not identifiable, in line with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

Cabinet Office

Oral Questions

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they use a system to monitor commitments by Ministers to write to members if they are unable to answer the oral question at the time it is asked in the House of Lords Chamber; and if so, how many replies are currently outstanding.

lord young of cookham: The content of answers to Oral Questions is a matter for the Minister concerned, and each Minister is accountable to the House for the answers they provide. As such it is for individual departments to ensure commitments made by Ministers to write to members meet the Minister's responsibilities under section 1 of the Ministerial Code.

Department for International Trade

Trade Promotion: Central America

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider appointing a Prime Minister's trade adviser for Central America.

lord price: There is currently no such title or role as a Prime Minister’s trade adviser. However there are currently no plans for a Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Central America. The exact make up of our overseas engagement is under constant review in order to balance our global efforts and resources to achieve maximum strategic benefit to the UK. We support international trade and investment through a range of engagements tailored to individual markets and regions. The Department for International Trade leads on this work and has an international staff network, including in the Central American markets of Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Panama. DIT’s work to place the UK at the forefront of global trade is supported by other government departments as well as British business, Business Ambassadors and Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys.

Overseas Trade: Israel

lord polak: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel to strengthen UK–Israel trade; and what progress has been made in securing a UK–Israel trade deal to be implemented following the UK's exit from the EU.

lord price: The Prime Minister met the Israeli Prime Minister in February and agreed to establish a working group to continue the progress we have seen to date. We continue to liaise closely with the Israeli Government on strengthening our trading links, and I look forward to building on our strong trade relationship during my visit to Israel this week.

Department of Health

Medical Treatments

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to restrict patient access to new NICE-approved treatments for a period of time in excess of one year if the cost of introducing such treatments exceeds a given financial threshold in their early years; and whether any such plans to restrict patient access could be implemented without legislation.

lord o'shaughnessy: From 1 April, a ‘budget impact test’ will be introduced for products assessed through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes. The budget impact test has been developed within the existing legislative framework for the funding requirement. The National Health Service spent over £15 billion on medicines in 2015/16, a 20% increase since 2010/11, and the purpose of the budget impact test is to help to manage the introduction of high budget impact products into the NHS, and to ensure that their introduction does not distort the NHS’s ability to fund other priorities. Where the budget impact of a technology being evaluated by NICE is expected to have a net budget impact that is £20 million or greater in any of the first three years, NHS England will seek to have a commercial discussion with the company in order to manage the introduction of the high budget impact product into the NHS. In circumstances where a commercial arrangement is unable to be reached, NHS England may make a case to NICE for a longer implementation period, normally up to a maximum of three years, during which the product would have a phased introduction. It should be noted that £20 million is not the maximum amount that the NHS would commit to funding a new technology in any one financial year.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

the countess of mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Shaughnessy on 7 March (HL5683), whether the proposal submitted for chronic fatigue, for which there is no current classification, includes the current classification for G93.3 – post-viral fatigue syndrome and benign myalgic encephalomyelitis; and whether it is intended that those definitions will be included in ICD 11 under neurological conditions.

lord o'shaughnessy: The World Health Organization (WHO) has reaffirmed with NHS Digital that the proposal submitted on the ICD-11 platform for chronic fatigue is currently with the relevant groups of the organisation to consider the scientifically-based placement in the classification. We understand that the WHO are still reviewing this matter and expect that the next iteration of ICD-11, expected in April 2017, will reflect the WHO’s conclusions.

Palliative Care: Children

lord carlile of berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups understand their responsibility for the commissioning of children’s palliative care, and that they engage with the work that is done in the third sector to provide and develop children’s palliative care.

lord o'shaughnessy: In 2016, the National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, made up of 27 partners from across the system, published Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care - a national framework for local action 2015-2020. The framework outlines an overarching vision for palliative and end of life care for both children and adults, and includes six ambitions, all with building blocks, to make that vision a reality. A copy of the framework is attached. The framework emphasises the importance of local decision-making and delivery and encourages commissioners to work with partners to improve palliative and end of life care across the local system. To support delivery of the ambitions, a new online only ‘knowledge hub’ has been developed containing resources, tools and case studies for both commissioners and professionals, including commissioning guidelines. NHS England also expects clinical commissioning groups to commission services in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions: planning and management, which includes details on the planning and management of end of life and palliative care for infants, children and young people. A copy of the guidance is attached.



Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care
(PDF Document, 318.02 KB)




End of Life Care for infants
(PDF Document, 189.91 KB)

Palliative Care: Children

lord carlile of berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups are accountable to NHS England for delivering a consistent level of children’s palliative care across England.

lord o'shaughnessy: NHS England expects clinical commissioning groups to commission services in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, which includes details on the planning and management of end of life and palliative care for infants, children and young people. A copy of the guideline is attached.



NICE Guideline End of Life Care for Infants
(PDF Document, 189.91 KB)

Hospices: Children

lord carlile of berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to increase the funding for the Children’s Hospice Grant, and if so, how they will sustain that increase in funding for the foreseeable future.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government strongly values the crucial role of the children's hospice sector in providing excellent end of life care across the country. Our ambition is for everyone approaching the end of life to receive high quality care that reflects their individual needs, choices and preferences. The budget for the Children’s Hospice Grant programme was reviewed as part of NHS England’s business planning process and has been maintained at the current rate. However, children’s hospices will receive notification of their two year budget allocations from April instead of the usual annual budget settlement to allow for better future planning.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

baroness gardner of parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when NHS England expects to make a final decision on its review into congenital heart disease services.

lord o'shaughnessy: NHS England will make a decision on its proposals for changes to adult and children’s congenital heart services in England following a consultation which is now underway and which closes on 5 June 2017. It has worked, and will continue to work, with providers and other stakeholders to assess the impact of these proposals and will publish further information in due course.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

the countess of mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government upon what scientific basis the Expert Reference Group for the Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health (JCPMH), in publishing their guide on Commissioning for Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS), based their decision that myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) should be categorised as a functional somatic disorder, given that the World Health Organisation’s mandatory International Classification of Diseases categorises the illness as neurological under ICD 10-G93.3, and that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not listed ME/CFS as a functional somatic disorder; and whether they will withdraw the recommendation for cognitive behaviour therapy and graded exercise to be commissioned for patients with ME/CFS until NICE Guideline CG53 is reviewed.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health is not a Government body, it is a collaboration between 17 leading organisations including the Department of Health, and is co-chaired by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of General Practitioners. The Department was not closely involved in the writing or production of this document. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing the guidance GC53 to consider whether it should be updated to take account of new evidence. NICE are expected to reach a decision on whether the guidance should be updated in summer 2017.

Congenital Abnormalities

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Shaughnessy on 20 March (HL5811), why they do not maintain a list of foetal anomalies that cannot be identified before 24 weeks gestation.

lord o'shaughnessy: It is not possible to detect every condition in every pregnancy at screening before 24 weeks of gestation. A screening test is not diagnostic; some conditions may subsequently be detected either at clinical ultrasound examination later in pregnancy, at birth or in the early postnatal period.

Abortion

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Shaughnessy on 21 March (HL5804 and HL5905), why a patient's marital status, where known, is requested on HSA4 abortion notification forms.

lord o'shaughnessy: The recording of a patient’s marital status on the HSA4 abortion notification forms is a requirement set out in the Abortion (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2002.

Social Services

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of providers of publicly funded (1) home care, and (2) residential and nursing home care services, who have handed back contracts to local authorities in England; what representations they have received from local authorities and others about this issue; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such actions on the performance of the NHS.

lord o'shaughnessy: Information on the number of providers of publicly funded home care and residential and nursing home care services who have handed back contracts is not held centrally. Ministers have received representations from a number of local authorities (LAs) about market fragility which have touched on the risk of and alluded to actual handing back of contracts. Following the Chancellor’s announcement in the Budget, LAs in England will receive an additional £2 billion for social care over the next three years. The additional resources will help LAs commission care services that are sustainable, diverse and offer sufficient high quality care and support for people in their areas. There is a complex relationship between social care and NHS services. NHS England is working with the Department to identify a fuller understanding of the linkages between health and social care services. It is aiming to undertake some detailed work at local level to exploit linked data where it is available to analyse more fully how changes and variation in the provision of social care impacts on health care services. The results of the best available academic study indicate that for each additional £1 spent on social care, there is a saving to the National Health Service of £0.35. Also, £1 additional NHS spend corresponds to just over £0.35 reduction on social care.

Primodos

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 26 October 2010 (HL2589, HL2591, HL2592, and HL2593) concerning the drug Primodos, and to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health on 23 October 2014 (HC Deb 1139) concerning oral hormone pregnancy tests, and in the light of the Sky News documentary Primodos: The Secret Drugs Scandal, what progress has been made on the independent review of the papers and evidence relating to oral hormone pregnancy tests; what assessment that review has made of the decision by the Committee on Safety of Medicines to ask drug companies to stop promoting pregnancy test drugs to doctors in 1969 but not to advise doctors not to use such drugs until 1975; and whether that review will examine the allegations made in the Sky News documentary, in particular (1) that no toxicology or testing was undertaken prior to the drug Primodos being licensed, (2) that Primodos was being used as an abortifacient in some parts of the world whilst being sold in the UK for the purposes of pregnancy testing, and (3) that there may have been collusion between the drug manufacturer and the regulatory bodies.

lord o'shaughnessy: Primodos, a hormonal pregnancy test, first became available in the 1950s. At that time there were no legal requirements on companies to ensure that marketed medicines met appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy and a licence to market was not required. Any studies performed on a medicine prior to its use were at the discretion of the company. The Medicines Act came into force in 1971. The terms of reference of the Expert Working Group on Hormonal Pregnancy Tests, adopted by its members and agreed with by the chair of the main patient association in her role as an ‘observer’ on the Group, are focused on a scientific review of the strength of evidence for a possible association between exposure in pregnancy to hormonal pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy (particularly birth defects, miscarriages and stillbirths). The Group’s terms of reference also include what lessons may be learnt for further improving existing regulatory systems to identify, monitor and minimise any adverse effects of medicines in pregnancy.

Medical Equipment: EU Law

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to transpose the forthcoming EU Medical Devices Regulation into UK law following the UK's exit from the EU; and how they intend to address those aspects of the Regulation that are based on participation in EU institutions and the single market.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government is committed to the safe and effective regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom. We continue to strengthen safety while ensuring patients and the public have fast access to new, innovative devices. We will be implementing the new Devices Regulations, the first provisions of which are expected to enter into force in May this year. Details of the future legislative framework will be subject to the outcome of negotiations with the European Union.